View full sizeSean Ryan | The Flint JournalDarryl Buchanan, center with a thumbs-up, finally declares taking the second place at his Flint headquarters in Flint's mayoral primary election Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Buchanan battled for second place all night with Scott Smith until the 60th of 61 percents reported their tallies giving Buchanan the final edge to claim second place and move on to the election in November.

FLINT, Michigan -- After a nail-biter of a race between Darryl Buchanan and Scott Smith for second place, Buchanan made his victory speech with one precinct left to report in the Flint mayoral primary election.

Mayor Dayne Walling was in first place with 5,416 votes, or 48 percent, in his bid for re-election.

The unofficial results showed Buchanan received 2,668 votes, or 24 percent, while Smith had 2,434 votes or 22 percent, with 60 of 61 precincts reporting their results.

Buchanan said the real work is just beginning for his campaign.

"I'm going to sleep tonight, but I'll rest in November," he said, referring to the Nov. 8 general election. "I'm going to keep working -- we can't stop,"

The atmosphere was tense for much of the night at Buchanan's headquarters, 877 E. Fifth Ave., while supporters waited for the final results to come in.

Smith and Buchanan were within a couple hundred votes of each other for much of the night, but Smith never quite caught up, according to the results on the Genesee County elections website.